Alastaro, July 8, 2013 - A major setback for MPM-driver David Vegter in the third round of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship at Alastaro, Finland. In qualifying the MPM-driver managed to secure a fifth position, but was eliminated in the quarter finals. But even worse was the engine damage Vegter had in the run. "We could not find the right set-up for the ever changing track conditions and had bad luck with breaking the engine", said Vegter, already hard at work to repair the damage. In the championship the MPM-driver lost one place, but is still in a very good third position.
The third round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship brought the teams to Alastaro, Finland. A new track for Vegter Pro Mod Racing as the number two in the 2013 championship skipped the Finnish race the last few years. As everybody knows, the Alastaro track is tricky, but for David Vegter and his team the Finnish track caused headaches. After two qualifying runs Vegter was eight (7.561 seconds). Saturday the MPM-driver improved to 6.261 seconds, pretty good in these conditions and good for the fifth qualifying position.
"The track was very tricky and changed every moment. In Finland it's not allowed to remove oil from the track with chemicals, so they wipe it away. But you still have a slippery spot on the track. That makes it very demanding for the drivers, but a challenge and funny too. We didn't manage to find the right set-up for these track conditions, I think you need more experience with these special conditions over here", said Vegter after the Finnish qualifying.
As the number five qualifier Vegter had to face his MPM-colleague Marc Meihuizen in the quarter finals of eliminations. Both drivers had traction problems, but Meihuizen was at the finish line first, just in front of Vegter who was eliminated. But even worse was the fire ball from under the car. "At the hit I lost two cylinders, a lot of power and that caused tyre shake. I managed to get the car out of that and it started to accelerate pretty hard. We almost crossed the finish line side-by-side. At that moment something went wrong with the engine. A broken head and a damaged fuel line caused fire. The fire was already gone when I stopped the car." Although the team took the engine apart at the track, back home in the workshop the team found out the damage was even worse. "The block, heads, pistons, connecting rods, everything. And of course the fuel lines and everything around. Parts of the chassis were damaged too by the fire. We have to clean and repair that too. A lot of work", said Vegter already working hard to repair the damage.
Because August 9-11 is the fourth round of the FIA European Championship, the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim, Germany. Vegter Pro Mod Racing will be there! Thanks to the good results in the first two rounds of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, Vegter is still the number three in the championship.
- Author
- Remco Scheelings
Alastaro David Vegter Dragracing Main event MPM Racing MPM Sports Pro mod
